1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to the joining of panels that contain upright legs at their edges. In particular, described is an aluminum joining member, or mullion, which can span great distances and which allows for the free movement of the panels both pivotally about the mullion and vertically with respect to the substrate, while at the same time forming a water-tight seal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a typical, prior art joint member. In the field of building materials composed of exterior panels which incorporate extensions in the form of legs or flanges along their sides, systems such as shown in FIG. 1 are available to join together two such panels. Drawbacks exist in these and other types of joining members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,210 to Hanstein et al. teaches a conversion muntin including a muntin cover element and a clamping strip. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,119 to Toews shows a claw engaging means for rectangular panels. U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,024 to Konstantin describes a glazing panel system held together with a batten joining connector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,175 to Contero teaches an assembly of panels and jointing elements wherein the jointing element is U-shaped.
Prior art hooking portions can cause great pressure against the panels without leaving room for rotation of the panel elements relative to the clamping system. Furthermore, prior art systems are relatively weak when it comes to spanning between girts, and they cannot be notched when an architect does not want the glazing system to protrude too far from the plane of the wall girts. Finally, there are no provisions for accepting reinforcing steel bars and therefore the distances they span can be quite limited. These and other drawbacks are solved by the instant invention, as follows.